Hollow (Eric Origin Story)
by NiallHoranMakesMeWeak
Summary: "There's a story behind every person. There's a reason why they are the way they are. Something in the past created them, and sometimes it's impossible to fix them." Before Eric was the heartless leader of Dauntless, he was just a hopeful transfer; finding strength, conquering his fears,meeting his first love, and experiencing loss that changes his life and who he is forever.
1. Choices

A/N: I'm not sure if this plot has been done many times before, I couldn't find many stories that have, but I thought I'd give my spin on it if not. Recently, I've gotten back into Divergent and as a professional Eric apologist, I have always wondered Eric's background and wanted an origin story for him like we got for Four. Clearly we never will, so I decided to make my own! How did Eric become the cruel Dauntless leader we all knew? What were the steps that led him there? Let's find out together! Let me know if I should continue this or what you think! I also posted this to Wattpad, not sure which site is more active, so let me know what you think and if I should continue this/if people care! xx

Chapter One: Choices

 _"Erudite." The clearly Dauntless woman administering my test said to me curtly._

 _"Oh." I grumbled, "Thanks."_

 _As I got up out of the chair, she grabbed my arm gently._

 _"You know, you don't have to choose your test results. You can go anywhere you want."_

 _"Yeah, but what's the point of that? The test tells me I'm an Erudite, I'm an Erudite."_

 _"The test can only tell you so much." She shrugged, "Just because you're smart, doesn't mean you're not brave, or kind, or honest."_

 _"What, like Diverg-" I said, not even able to finish the word. Divergent. We learned about them before. People who couldn't fit into one faction. My father had always told me they couldn't be controlled and were to be feared and eliminated._

 _"No, no, no." She shook her head, "You're not Divergent. Don't worry. Every single one of your results was textbook Erudite. What I'm saying is, there's a reason why you're allowed to pick another faction. There's still some degree of free will left in this world."_

* * *

The conversation that Dauntless woman and I had at my test played in my head over and over again as I walked to the Choosing Ceremony. As an Erudite, I was used to my mind constantly moving a mile a minute, but today it felt like it was in overdrive. I couldn't shake her words. _"There's still some degree of free will left in this world."_

As I approached the building, I silently cursed to myself as I saw my parents talking to Jeanine Matthews, the new leader of our faction. I had known Jeanine for as long as I could remember and we had always gotten along; she was funny and always the smartest person in the room, but ever since taking a leadership position, I had noticed a change in her. She was a lot colder and more calculated, like she constantly aware that every move she made and word she said was being watched and judged. I didn't envy her new power.

"Ah, there he is." My mother beamed spotting me. I rarely saw my mother; she was always in a lab, "working on her research". You'd think her research was her child, the way she missed every single one of my piano recitals, spelling bees, sports games, or Science fairs since I was a child for it. Stupid research.

"Eric." My father nodded in my direction. My father, on the other hand, was a different story. He was always too involved. Nothing I did was good enough in his eyes. If I came home with an A+, he'd tell me that being smart was nothing to be proud of; it should be expected of an Erudite. If one of my sports teams won a game, he'd tell me I shouldn't waste my life playing "brutish games". If I won an award, he'd throw it away immediately and tell me I'll become lazy if I care about the appreciation of others. I was convinced that I could discover a new planet with human life, and my father would roll his eyes and tell me that discovering a new planet is no big accomplishment. I couldn't win with the man.

"I trust there will be no surprises today, Eric." Jeanine was now looking in my direction. My only response was a slight nod.

Ah, I knew this was coming. That's why this task force was waiting for me, making sure I didn't follow in my brother's footsteps, a grave mistake in their eyes.

My older brother Evan took the test last year, and had transferred to Amity. My parents were furious. My father didn't speak to anyone for almost a week, just walking around in silent anger, occasionally saying words like "pig farmer" and "betrayed" under his breath. My mother turned to her work. Shocking. I was mad at first that he abandoned me, but the more I thought about it, the more I understood his decision. My brother was clearly never an Erudite. He hated studying, he always ditched school to go hiking or go for a walk, and he'd even let the animals we'd test on in labs free because he thought it was "cruel and unusual". My father blamed it on laziness, but I blamed it on being born into the wrong faction.

My mother turned to me, smoothing down my slicked back light brown hair and straightening out my already perfect blue tie.

 _'Wow, so she can be maternal.'_ I thought to myself dryly.

"We just don't want you to make a mistake, Eric." She smiled. "Your life is here. You were born to be here. Don't forget that."

"Yes, ma'am. No surprises." I said this mostly to my father, who was giving me a gaze that made me want to crawl into a hole and never come out. No one could put fear in me like that man could.

With that, they were satisfied. They wished me luck, and headed inside. I sighed, sinking down to the front steps. I knew the test would tell me I was an Erudite. I was smart, I enjoyed Science, I loved the research we did, and I looked at problems from an analytical standpoint that was almost perfectly Erudite. But, I didn't want to stay in a lab all day. I didn't want to be under my father's thumb forever, constantly reminding me how disappointing I was. I looked down at my clothes, I was even sick of the perfectly tailored blue clothing. I was sick of it all.

Just then, a group of Dauntless kids arrived. They came barreling out of moving trains, laughing and hollering, zooming past me from all directions. I looked up at them, and tried to hide my obvious smile and interest.

 _'Now that, that looks fun.'_ I thought to myself.

Could I be Dauntless? I'm tough. And hell, I would say I was brave. I even got into a fight once. In third grade, two Candor kids stole Lenny Lebowski's lunch money in the school yard. Lenny Lebowski was probably one of the most intelligent people in all of Erudite, even when we were toddlers and most kids were playing with blocks, Lenny was solving complicated mathematical equations. But, he was also the most pathetic, smallest, skinniest kid in any room he was in. He was an easy target, especially for the jerks that were bred from Candor. I had walked up to the kids picking on him, took back Lenny's money, and punched them both square in the jaw. My brother high-fived me. My father grounded me for six months and constantly reminded me that Erudites don't fight with fists, they find with their minds. I hadn't fought since then, but I still remember the way it felt to hit someone. Powerful. Strong. I didn't hate it, to say the least.

I was so wrapped up in my own inner dialogue; I hadn't even noticed someone sit beside me. I glanced over at the loose, yellow pants and up at the person's face and busted out laughing.

"Oh man, they make you wear that stuff?" I chuckled, looking at my big brother, Evan.

"Hey, hey, I like this stuff. Better than the robot clothes they put you in." He said, returning my chuckle.

I looked at my brother. The clothes weren't the only difference. He looked totally different from the boy I knew a year ago. His buzz cut was now a long, crazy mane of brown curly hair, tied back with a hairband. He had bracelets up and down his wrists, and crystals hanging from his neck. But when he smiled, the same easy going, happy smile my brother always had, I knew it was still him. It was still Evan. The same Evan that checked under my bed for monsters as a child, or who gave me high fives and praise for my accomplishments when my father wouldn't. For every time my father told me I wasn't good enough, Evan told me "You're a rock star, E." And when my mother didn't go to my recitals or spelling bees or sports games or Science fairs, I'd look out into the crowd and find my brother beaming up at me. He was always there for me.

"So, ready for today?"

"Not really." I shrugged, "Were you ready?"

"Oh yeah. I couldn't wait to never see another Science lab again. But, it was hard leaving you."

I nodded slightly, trying not to let the fact that my brother did in fact leave sting me further. I got it, I reminded myself. I understood.

"Seriously, E." He grabbed my shoulder, "The only reason I even considered staying in that high tech hellhole was for you, you know that right?"

"I know." I turned to him, "I'm glad you left."

"You can too, you know."

"Can I?" I mumbled.

"Hell yeah you can." He said, raising his voice. "The world is your oyster, little brother. And I think you know you're better than sitting in an Erudite lab all day, looking through a microscope. You're worth a hell of a lot more than that."

I smiled weakly, wishing that was true.

"Don't. Don't you dare, Eric. That piece of shit father of ours has put these thoughts into your head that you're less than a rock star and it's wrong, okay? He's wrong. Fuck Erudite. Go out in the world. Explore."

"Then where can I go, Evan? I would rather die than live with the swine in Candor , no offense but the thought of singing campfire songs while braiding people's hair really doesn't excite me, and handing out food to the factionless in nothing but gray sure sounds like a blast."

"You're forgetting one faction, then." He raised an eyebrow.

"Dauntless." I said quietly, "Don't you think that's a little _ambitious_? Going from Erudite to that? I don't want to fail."

"You won't fail." He said simply.

"You can't possibly know that."

"Hell yes I can." He grabbed me by both the shoulders and turn me to him, "Eric, you're the bravest person I know. But besides that, you can go anywhere you want and not fail. You want to know why? Because you're Eric. You don't fail. And even when you do, you pick yourself up and keep going until you win. That sounds pretty Dauntless to me."

I didn't say anything for a while, and my brother spoke to break the silence.

"All I'm saying is, if you were meant to be an Erudite like you think you were, shouldn't this be an easy decision for you? Shouldn't you be excited to drop your blood in their bowl?"

"You're right." I sighed.

"You're damn right I'm right." He grinned, "You may be smart, but E, we know that you're so much more than a stuffy, snobby Erudite."

* * *

"Eric York." Marcus Eaton, the leader of Abnegation says from the stage.

I gulped. It was my turn. I watched person after person choose their fate. I watched factions cheer. I watched families cry as their child decided to leave them. I wasn't ready for this, I decided. I glanced at the exits, calculating if I could just make a run for it and live among the factionless street rats.

 _"No, Eric. Do it."_ A voice in my head said, which happened to sound a lot like Evan.

I walked past my parents, both touching me quickly before I made my way up to the stage. I took the knife from the table, gingerly cutting my hand, ready to make the biggest decision of my life. A decision that could possibly ruin my life.

I looked at the blood now in my hand and back at the five bowls at the table. My eyes shifted from the bowl of water for Erudite to the hot coals for Dauntless, back and forth, back and forth. Marcus cleared his throat in front of me, clearly trying to hurry me along. For someone so selfless, you'd think he wouldn't be so pushy.

Without thinking, I raised my hand above the bowl of hot coals and let the blood drip. The bowl sizzled, and I immediately heard the audible gasps from the group of Erudites behind me. I also heard the booming cheers of the Dauntless seated to the right, and made my way off the stage over to them. To my new faction.

I glanced to the left, and saw my brother now standing up in the Amity section whistling through his fingers. The smile plastered on my face from that sight quickly fell as I made eye contact with my father. If looks could kill, I would be dead on the spot.

I shook it off, and sat down next to a girl with long, curly blonde hair and the clearest blue eyes I've ever seen dressed in Amity yellow. I suddenly felt my palms sweat and my throat tense up. We had pretty girls in Erudite, but not that pretty.

"I'm Dove." She wave her hand that wasn't cut to the side, "Trying to get used to this whole 'not hugging to greet people' thing."

"Dove?" I chuckled, "Of course it is."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" She huffed, raising an eyebrow. But it was clear that was a tinge of humor in her voice.

"Nothing. It's just very Amity." I smiled, "Eric."

"Eric the Erudite." She nodded.

"Former Erudite." I corrected, "We're Dauntless now."

"That is very true." Dove leaned in to me, and I swear I thought my heart would stop at an any minute, "You ready for the start of the rest of your life?"

"I sure as shit hope so." I laughed.

A/N: Okay, so this was just kind of a intro chapter to see if people liked it or wanted me to continue! If I continue, there will obviously be a lot more action when he gets to Dauntless obviously. :) Please let me know if you want to see where this goes..thank ya kindly! x


	2. Leap Of Faith

Chapter Two: Leap Of Faith

Jumping off a moving train seemed a little bizarre to me for many reasons, the largest one being that twenty four hours ago I was collecting data samples in a pristine laboratory in the heart of Erudite.

' _This is my life now'_ I thought, as I looked around the train car that everyone piled into from the Choosing Ceremony.

I sized up the people sitting around me. These people were supposed to be my friends, confidants, but my Erudite wiring made me see them as nothing but competition. I observed that the car was full of mostly Dauntless born, three Candors, Dove from Amity, and I had been the only Erudite transfer, which was fine with me. There was also one Stiff, but he wasn't on the train with us. The run to the train was probably too exciting for him.

Just then, the Dauntless woman who had let us into the train hopped up and stood by the now open door.

"Alright, newbies." She grinned, "See you on the other side." She barreled out of the car and landed on her feet nonchalantly like she was stepping over a small stone and not leaping out of a moving train.

"Showoff." Dove grumbled under her breath from beside me. I smirked. An Amity with some snark. She was becoming more and more interesting to me as the minutes passed.

I watched Dauntless born after Dauntless born make the jump until the only ones left were the transfers.

I waited for someone else to step up, silently begging one of the Candors standing across from me to make their move. Where was that blunt tact now? Surely they should be fine with embarrassing themselves in front of our new faction.

Sighing, I moved toward the door. It was now or never. Without looking back or second guessing myself, which I had become fantastic at after years of living with my father, I took the jump. I rolled a couple of times and landed on my back. I looked to the right and saw Dove had landed right next to me, body contorted like a pretzel. She looked at me and began hysterically laughing, which in turn caused me to join in. I brushed myself off and got up, and then reached down to help her up. I couldn't remember the last time I laughed so hard in Erudite.

* * *

When we got to the rooftop where everyone had congregated, one of the Dauntless stood up on the ledge in front of us.

"Welcome to Dauntless!" He shouted, his voice booming through the crowd, "I'm Amar. And right below us is where you will learn to face your fears and become stronger than you could ever imagine. Or you'll die in the process. Either or."

"Below us?" One of the Candors beside me spoke up.

' _Oh god, they're going to make us jump'_. I thought, putting two and two together.

"That's right. Below us. The only way in is to jump. And with the low rate of faction transfers we have this year, what better way to find out if there's actually Dauntless blood pumping through those veins than to take a leap of faith for us?"

"What do these people have against doors?" Dove whispered to me.

"Traditionally, we allow the initiates to jump first. Personally, I don't care if you're Dauntless born or a transfer, just that someone jumps."

Every eye turned towards our small group of transfers in the corner of the rooftop. With the Stiff rejoining us, there were only six of us.

We didn't have much time to mull our decision over as one of the Dauntless born boys hopped up on the ledge, and tripped. He went soaring, cursing all the way down. The Dauntless around me chuckled, labeling it a "classic Zeke" move, the Candor girl next to me gasped, and I was just thankful I didn't hear any audible smacks like he had hit the pavement.

I took my chance to establish dominance in our little group, and quickly got behind the Dauntless born that were now forming a line at the ledge. At least I was first of the transfers. When it was my turn to jump, I took a deep breath, and let myself fall.

It took every fiber of strength I had to suppress the scream trying to make its way out of my mouth, but I didn't want to give the Dauntless born the satisfaction of knowing they got to me. I hadn't realized how hard I was shutting my eyes until someone tapped me on the shoulder and I jolted them open. I could see enough around the little dots in my vision to know that I had landed on a net. I quickly looked down and took inventory. Two legs, two arms, the gang was all here. I took the man's hand and stood up.

"Your name?" He questioned. I recognized him as Max, one of the Dauntless leaders I had met at the Choosing Ceremony.

"Eric."

"Next jumper, Eric!" The applause didn't last long as everyone was focused on the now bloodcurdling scream that was echoing through the building. I looked up, and it belonged to none other than Dove. How did she come from Amity?

"I think I handled that well." Dove said as she joined me next to the rest of the initiates.

"Nerves of steel, Dove. Didn't crack for a second." I laughed, and she poked me in the side playfully.

The Stiff is the last to join our group, looking like he just saw a ghost. Why a Stiff thought he had any business being in Dauntless was beyond me. I gave him a week before he was begging for food with the factionless.

Amar stepped up behind the Stiff, and motioned with his hand for us to gather around him.

"I was born here in Dauntless, so some of you may already know me, but for you transfers, all you need to know is that I breezed through initiation three years ago and because I was just so damn amazing, they gave me the gift of passing on my knowledge to you all. Lucky you." He smirked and paused for a minute before continuing.

"We normally separate the Dauntless born and transfer training because we want to give our newest additions at least a small chance before they are torn apart, but in the spirit of keeping things new and exciting in true Dauntless form; we're doing something different this year."

"Different?" Zeke, the first jumper who face planted off a roof, raised an eyebrow.

It only took one icy look from Amar to shut Zeke right up. Amar did have presence, he commanded the attention.

"Yes, Zeke. Different." Clearing his throat, he began walking, crooking his finger to follow us, "Before you do anything else, we want to see if facing your fears right at the beginning will help you in your training. We're going to take a look at all your fears right now. Think of yourselves as the guinea pigs." He grinned, leading us down a tunnel into a fluorescent corner room that is broken off into two sections. In one section is an open space behind glass, and the other section is a series of wires and machines that look like something you would find in Erudites and a table full of syringes.

"Welcome to the fear landscape room." We all piled in behind him, trying to soak up everything that was in front of us.

"W-w-w?" One of the Candor boys started, but another look from Amar and he didn't even finish the thought.

"I was getting to that. The fear landscape room is where you experience your deepest, darkest fears. It's a simulation."

I scrunched my brow. This couldn't be possible. Everything that Erudite had ever taught me made me firmly believe this couldn't be possible.

"There's no way you could know our fears." I said, meaning to whisper it to Dove, but realizing as Amar shifted his gaze on me that I had said it out loud. And loud enough for him to hear. Great.

"How refreshing having an Erudite here with us this year. They always seem to know everything, don't they?" He said with humor in his voice, but I had a feeling his thoughts on Erudite were anything but light hearted. He walked over to the table of syringes and picked one up, turning his attention back on me.

"Eric." He looked down at the syringe in his hand, "It _was_ Eric, yes? I may not know your fears, but this serum sure will. I'm sure you've learned all about the different parts of the brain in your fancy Erudite libraries, and I'm sure you know there's one particular part that processes fear. Well this serum wakes that part up, and creates a simulation of your deepest fears. You're the director, kid. I'm merely the one stabbing you the needle."

"How do you get out of it? The simulation?" As terrifying as it was to have a syringe waved in my face by Amar, the Erudite in me was way more curious about this drug and process.

"You'll know what you're seeing isn't real. To get out of the simulation, your heart rate needs to get to a particular rate for me to tell the program to move to your next fear. Or, you can face your fears and deal with them head on. Problem solve. Work it out. In simple terms, you relax. You get out. When you have no more fears, you'll wake up."

I stood in silence, trying to wrap my mind around this technology. Going into people's minds, playing with their darkest fears had Erudite written all over it. They made the aptitude test serum, it only made sense they made this one too. But, I had never once heard about this. Not even beginning research.

"Alright, Eric. You're first." Amar said, tapping the needle in his hand.

"Wait-"

"Wait, what? Let's feed that Erudite mind, shall we? Get over here, Eric. You don't want me to have to tell you again."

Sighing, I took off my coat, handed it to Dove and made my way over to Amar. I was taking slow steps, which caused the Candors behind me to snicker like I was doing it on purpose. I wasn't, I was just terrified out of my mind, but I'd let them think that.

I reached Amar, and without preparing me, he stuck the needle directly into my neck. I hissed through my teeth, narrowing my eyes at our instructor. If I was a betting man, I would have said he enjoyed that a little too much. Amar ushered me into the room behind the glass, instructed me to keep my hands to my side and he'd go start up the machine.

I watched as he connected himself to countless wires, glancing over at my fellow initiates. Dove clutched onto my jacket tightly and threw a weak 'thumbs up' sign.

I was about to yell out that this serum clearly was defective, but was stopped as I was suddenly in a completely different place. A different timeline it seemed as I took in my surroundings. I was in a dark room; the only light was one singular light bulb hanging above me. I looked around and noticed there were holes all over the walls.

' _What is this?'_ I began walking around carefully, _'I'm afraid of holes?'_ I was confused, to say the least.

And then I saw it.

One spider that was no bigger than a dime crawling out of one of the smaller holes. I glanced at the holes on the walls that were as big as the globes in school classrooms and knew I was in trouble. I had been afraid of spiders since I was a little kid. Even seeing one in the shower made me want to pack my things and set the house on fire.

The spider crawled around my foot, I tried to step on it, but it wouldn't die. My stepping on it only made it grow bigger, faster, and stronger. As I was dealing with the terminator spider, an army of new spiders crawled out of the walls, ranging in sizes from 'tiny' to 'I could eat a small dog easily'. When they reached my clothes and began crawling up and down my body, I attempted to swat them away, clenching my teeth, violently shaking all of my limbs. I couldn't even see my own outfit anymore there were so many of them on me.

' _Don't, Eric.'_ I chastised myself, _'This isn't real. This is not real.'_ I bit back my scream and continued swatting.

I could charge these spiders, find a weapon to beat them with, or I could look at this from an Erudite standpoint. If there was one thing I knew I was good at, it was thinking like an Erudite. Instead of approaching these fears like a Dauntless brute, I decided I was going to approach them like a scientist. All I had to do was to get my heart rate down. I walked over to the corner of the room, faced the wall, and squatted. I put my hands on my ears and breathed. In and out. In and out. The only way to get these things off me was to breathe.

' _Just breathe, Eric._ ' I told myself.

All of a sudden, I couldn't feel them crawling anymore. I began patting my clothes, and the spiders were gone. It was then I realized I was no longer in the room, and I was now in a car. Not only was I in a car, but I was in a car underwater I gathered from the water now pouring through the glass windows.

' _Oh, my fear of drowning. I haven't seen you in a while.'_ I thought bitterly, flash-backing to my first swimming lesson where I hung onto the pool ladder for dear life and would kick the teacher in the face if she came near me.

The water began to rise, and that scientist method escaped me quicker than the air in this car. I began violently trying to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. I looked up at the sun roof and tried to pull myself up, but was stopped by the seat belt that was strapping me in. I tried to unhook myself, but there was no clip to undo the strap. I cursed to myself, trying to wiggle my way out of it as the water was now creeping around my neck and I could feel my breathing becoming shorter by the second.

When I realized I was out of options, I remembered how to get out of this. I just had to relax. Even if I couldn't breathe in this death trap, I could trick myself into thinking I was breathing and relaxed.

I stuck my neck up as far as it could go, away from the rising water, and breathed. In and out, in and out. Just like last time.

Even quicker than the last, I was suddenly out of the car and in another dark room. I had gotten the hang of this simulation.

* * *

For what felt like days, I faced nine more fears back to back by my count. Each one came and went quicker and quicker, the Erudite way was proving to be a very sufficient way to handle this. I faced my fear of public speaking, failure, rejection, snakes, clowns, the dark, being buried alive, tight spaces, and the jolly old monster that I thought lived under my bed as a child.

After sending the fictional monster back to wherever he came from, I stood up and I was back in the fear landscape room. Eleven fears had to be pretty good. There's no way they weren't impressed with that.

As I got closer to the other section, I realized that it wasn't Amar controlling the machine anymore. It was my father.

"Dad?" I questioned.

"Eric." He typed furiously at the computer, not even looking up at me. I hated when he did that. It was like I wasn't even worth the acknowledgement.

"You saw all that?"

"What, your less than impressive fear tour? Yes, I did." He sighed, "Disappointing, indeed. I didn't expect less, though."

"Eleven fears, Dad!" I was shouting, "I got myself out of them. Me. You don't think that's impressive?"

"What would you like me to say to you, Eric? Do you want a gold star? Do you want me to hold your hand and tell you that you're the greatest son in all the land?"

"No, I jus-"

"You want me to say I'm proud of you? Is _that_ it?" He interrupted me, clearly stifling a laugh, "Well that will never happen, Eric. I'm not proud of you. I've never been proud of you. I'll never be proud of you. You have been nothing but a disappointment."

My eyes were burning now. This was part of the stimulation. It figures that my father was probably the finale. No one could get me to this point quite like him. I looked at him, and started breathing. I needed to let him go. He was right. He would never tell me he was proud of me.

"Bye, Dad." I said quietly and went to go sit down in the corner of the room, ignoring my father continuing to spit insults at me.

In and out. In and out.

I woke up and was met with the same expression from everyone in the room. I thought I had done something wrong, but upon further investigation, I could have sworn the look they all shared was fear, with a hint of amazement, and maybe a dash of shock.

I smirked and made my way over to Amar.

"That was…that was, impressive." He coughed, "Nicely done, Eric." I had the feeling making Amar speechless was an accomplishment in itself.

My blue coat was thrown into my arms and I turned to see Dove beaming at me.

"That was incredible!" She smiled, "You didn't even flinch. I know I'm going to be a mess in there. But you! You're a damn superhero."

I blushed. I wasn't used to adoration, especially not from people who looked like Dove, but I didn't hate it.

"You'll be fine. Just breathe." I touched her arm gently, and moved to the back of the room and began to put back on my jacket.

"Psst." Someone whispered from behind me, in the darkened hallway. I decided to ignore it and focus on the simulation.

"Eric." This made me turn my head around. When I couldn't see anyone, I made my way into the hallway, and my jaw almost dropped.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

None other than Jeanine Matthews was standing in front of me. At Dauntless. This was weird.

"I'm here because I need your help. Erudite needs your help."

A/N: Alrighty, there's chapter 2! The chapter was way too long already so I didn't go through all of Eric's fears, but if I continue I will go through the rest of them in his landscape…I just wanted to give you guys a little taste of it. Do you guys mind the long chapters? Are they too long? I've gotten a few reviews and favs/follows, so thank you guys sooo much! Please let me know if I should continue. I've got a lot of ideas how to take this. Thanks xxxx


	3. Loyalty

A/N: Thank you so much to those of you that have left reviews. I am so happy you guys are enjoying this so far. As always, please let me know what you think and sorry for spamming you with updates: P I'm just really inspired by Divergent lately and have a lot of ideas about where I want this to go! Do you guys have any ideas you'd like me to add into the story? Let me know xx

Chapter Three: Loyalty

"You need my help? _Erudite_ needs my help?" I questioned Jeanine. Was I still in the simulation?

"You heard me correctly, Eric." Jeanine nodded.

"Jeanine, I realize you've always been one step ahead of me since well, forever, but I'm confused. Why do you need my help? If you're here to drag me back to Erudite, I'm not going. I refuse to."

"On the contrary," She smirked, "The last thing I want you to do is leave. When you chose Dauntless, sure, I was upset…but upon some self-reflection, I've realized this could be a good thing. A great thing."

I sighed. In typical Erudite fashion, she wasn't answering any questions, only responding with statements that were even vaguer than the last.

"Are you going to tell me what that means?" I rubbed my temples, leaning against the wall, "Because if you haven't noticed, I'm still lost."

"Yes, yes. Don't worry, I'm getting there." She chuckled, leaning next to me. She looked in my direction, and I noticed the smile didn't reach her eyes. Jeanine had always been smart and serious, but ever since she took a leadership role I couldn't help but notice the light that was once in her eyes was gone. She was changing, and I wasn't sure if it was for the better.

"You do realize you're still an Erudite?" She spoke after a few minutes of standing in silence, "You may jump out of trains or wear nothing but black or cover yourself in frivolous piercings, but you'll always be Erudite. To your core, you value knowledge above everything."

"You don't know everything about me, Jeanine." I rolled my eyes, looking anywhere but at her. I was fearful she would take one look at me and know that that very thought had been haunting me from the second I dropped my blood into the Dauntless bowl.

"Maybe you're right." She shrugged, but I knew Jeanine well enough to know that she never thought she was wrong, "But, hear me out at least."

I didn't say anything in return, giving her the signal to continue.

"Fine, you're Dauntless. But, I think even with your new found wild, restless Dauntless spirit, you can agree that Abnegation has no business running the government. They are weak and they are beginning to undermine the faction system. The very system our society thrives on and needs to survive."

"Undermining the faction system?"

"Yes." She lowered her voice, "We have reason to believe they are beginning to harbor Divergents."

"Abnegation?" I choked, "Those goody-two-shoes? You think _they're_ criminals?"

"I would appreciate it if you would hold all sarcastic commentary until I'm finished." She narrowed her eyes at me. I mimed 'zipping my lips', and she continued speaking.

"We're in the very early stages of this, and I expect you to keep this information discreet, but Erudite should be running the government. We're the smartest and most logical faction, and not to mention we're years ahead of everyone else from a technological standpoint. It just makes sense. But, there's been something stopping us from taking what should be ours. We simply have never had the muscle. We can't start an uprising with bookworms and scientists. But, there _is_ a faction that could provide the muscle."

"Dauntless." I said quietly, piecing together the information she was giving me.

"Precisely." She nodded, "I came here to speak to Max and your other leaders about a possible alliance down the road. I just want to lay the groundwork. Erudite and Dauntless together could be a force to be reckoned with, who would go against us?"

She did have a point. No one could match Erudite's intelligence and technology paired with the Dauntless army. No one would have a chance.

"So what do you need me for?" I wasn't quite sure how I factored into her master plan.

"Well, here's the problem. Max is apprehensive to work with us. To quote him directly, 'working with Erudite is like stepping into a lion's den in a meat suit'. So needless to say, it will take some time for him to warm to the idea. But as you know, it is rare I do not get what I want. But until then, I need eyes and ears in this neck of the woods." She glanced around, clearly trying to hide the disgust for the darkly lit, dingy hallway we stood in.

"You want me to be your mole?" I couldn't help but laugh at that, "Why would I do that? Why would I spy on my new faction during initiation?"

"Not a mole." She shook her head, "I just want you to simply keep your eyes and ears open for me. If you see or hear anything strange, tell me. I have a feeling Abnegation may not be the only place Divergents are lurking. And you know they are a problem."

I knew that. The word 'Divergent' came up in conversation frequently in Erudite. They were the silent dangers living in our communities that no one could see, just waiting to destroy us. I agreed they had to be eliminated.

"You think there are Divergents here?"

"Possibly." She shrugged, "I mean, an Abnegation did just transfer here. Tobias Eaton, Marcus Eaton's son, no less."

The Stiff was Marcus Eaton's son. I felt my eyes widen and it all began to make sense. That's why he didn't tell anyone his real name.

"I ask again, why would I do this?" I still didn't see any motivation for me to risk my initiation at Dauntless for Erudite. I left for a reason, and the thought of being roped back in didn't enthuse me to say the least.

"If you don't have any hint of loyalty left for Erudite, then do it for yourself. I know _that_ motivates you. The way I see it is down the road the Dauntless will become soldiers, nothing but the muscle ready to pull the trigger when Erudite says so. I don't know about you, but I think it would be an utter waste to not use your brain power for something greater. You could be very useful to this whole operation. Someone that has been raised by Erudite, filled with their knowledge, but also trained by Dauntless and lived among them, is extremely valuable. You could be a leader."

I thought about this for a moment. I never craved power before, but now that it was right in front of me it was extremely tempting. All I've ever wanted was to feel respected and appreciated, which I've never gotten before.

"I'm not agreeing to anything, but hypothetically, all I would need to do is keep you updated if something is weird?"

"For now, yes. Just get through initiation and keep vigilant. This is still very new and in the early stages. Sleep on it, and I'll be in contact soon."

Jeanine gave me one last quick nod and left without saying another word. Whenever I spoke to Jeanine, I tend to leave feeling dazed and confused by her superior intelligence, what she had just laid on me brought it to a new level for me.

* * *

"Eric!" Dove waved from a corner table in the dining hall as I entered the room. She was sitting with all the transfers except for Tobias Eaton. I took the empty seat next to her.

"Where did you run off to?" Sean, one of the Candor transfers, asked across from me, "You missed Dove's twenty three fears." He said, laughing.

"I went t-" I stopped mid-sentence, "Wait, _twenty three_? As in two three?" I turned to Dove, who was biting back a smile.

"Don't you dare say a word." She pointed a plastic spoon at me, trying to look menacing.

"No, no." I held up my hands, surrendering, "Twenty three is a solid number. Was there an intermission halfway through? Maybe some snacks?" I teased, which caused Sean to start laughing from his side of the table.

"Nah, but I'm sure they'll hand out blankets and pillows for a quick power nap between fears one through ten and ten through twenty three." He retorted.

Tobias Eaton stopped our conversation as he plopped down in the seat next to Sean. He looked terrified. I could work with that. Now that I knew that he was the Abnegation leader's son, I was a bit intimidated by him, but I couldn't show that to my fellow initiates.

"Woah, Stiff, you okay there?" I raised an eyebrow, faking concern, "Rough fear landscape?"

He just glared at me, but I could see his jaw working back and forth. I was getting to him. Good.

"Hey Sean, what do you think is in a Stiff's fear landscape?" I turned my attention to my new Candor ally, "Colored clothing? Empty church collection baskets?"

Sean laughed, and jumped at the opportunity at harassing someone, as I knew he would. It was the Candor way.

"I bet it was a woman showing her ankles in public. Or someone sneezed and didn't excuse themselves."

"The horror!" I gasped.

"Alright, cool it you two." Dove cut in, and before I had a chance to respond, Amar came into the dining hall.

"Congratulations, you all completed your first landscape." Amar yelled from the chair he was standing on, "Some of you were impressive, some of you not so much. But, remember, this is your first time and what matters is you saw your fears, you faced them, and now you know to conquer them for the next time around." He then looked directly at me, "But, I will say, none of you did quite as well as Four."

Amar was relishing in the fact that someone did better than me, and rubbing my face in it. Clearly the fact that I dared speak up during one of his many long winded speeches had rubbed him the wrong way, and he hated me now. Or he could just hate all Erudites. Either way, I didn't care. But what I did care about is who or what is Four?

"Tori." Amar turned his attention to the woman who administered my aptitude test who was sitting on a windowsill in the back of the room, "What's the average amount of fears people have?"

"Ten to fifteen. Why?"

"Well, he has only four fears." He grinned, pointing at Tobias Eaton.

 _He_ was Four? I felt my blood boil. I was being shown up by a Stiff. I came here to escape being second best, and I refused to let some Abnegation goody-goody be the one to put the nail in my coffin.

I listened to Tori and Amar continue to gush over him for what felt like hours, silently stewing in anger. When the Four fan club meeting had adjourned, I slowly looked up at him.

"What's your real name, Four?" I asked innocently, "Your last name is something with an E, right? What is it again?" He started to squirm in his seat, and I smirked.

I wasn't going to out him, not yet. I just wanted him to know that I knew who he was and I can release the information he had been trying so desperately to hide anytime I wanted.

He leaned in closer to me, and gave me an icy stare.

"My name is Four. You call me anything but Four and you won't like the results."

"Oh don't be so dramatic, _Four_." I rolled my eyes.

Now that I knew that Tobias Eaton could be an actual threat to me, things have changed. I could turn the Erudite back on just as quickly as I could shut it off.

* * *

I watched as Dove landed some solid hits to her punching bag in the training room. It was our first day of training, and the leaders had us practice on the bags as they walked around, sometimes sharing a helpful comment, but mostly silently watching.

"I'm impressed." I raised an eyebrow, glancing at Dove as I continued to hit my own bag. Even though I was an Erudite, I had always liked to keep fit. I wasn't having any trouble in my corner.

"You'd be surprised how hard farm work is." She laughed.

"Alright, initiates, over here please." I turned to see Amar and Max standing by a blackboard with all of our names paired up in groups of two. I found my name next to Sean's.

"A section of your training is obviously physical. Sure we want you to be brave and conquer your fears, but a large part of being Dauntless is knowing what to do in combat. We train soldiers. Just like we threw you into the fire with the fear landscape, we want to do the same here. Every few days, you will be paired off and you will have to fight each other until one person surrenders or is physically unable to go on. These fights will factor into your rankings at the end of initiation, as will your fear landscapes. Before we start your actual training, we want to see where you're starting from. So today, you will fight whoever is next to you on the board behind me. Good luck, all."

Everyone broke off into small groups of individual conversations, digesting what we were about to do next. I turned to Dove and Sean, who just so happened to be my opponent today.

"Aw, man," He whined, "Just don't mess up my face, alright?" I laughed until I saw the look of fear on Dove's face next to me.

"What's wrong?"

"I have to fight Four." She said, and my stomach dropped. I didn't know if I assumed there wouldn't be mixed gender fights, but all I knew was I didn't want Dove to get hurt.

"He's a Stiff, Dove." Sean said, "Use that. He doesn't know how to fight."

"That's true. He probably will take the moral high ground and refuse to hit you. Make it quick and easy. Keep your hands up, hit him in the face with the heel of your hand or your elbow, always keep moving." I tried to remember everything Evan had ever told me about being in a fight and throw it at her, but I could tell I was making her more nervous so I stopped.

"You can always surrender." Sean shrugged.

"No she can't." I cut in, "You need to at least try. You can do this, Dove." At least I hope she could. I wasn't sure if I could handle watching Dove being attacked by Tobias Eaton.

* * *

The fight between Sean and I went quick. Candors weren't exactly known for being scrappy. Their biggest muscle was usually their mouths.

He had gotten a few hits in that barely made me stumble, but just one kick to the knees had him on his back. I had only landed one punch before he quickly surrendered, much to Amar and Max's disappointment.

"Sorry about that." I said to him as I reached out a hand.

"No problem." He shrugged allowing himself to be pulled up by me, "I'm still pretty, right?"

I laughed as we took our places on the outside of the mat, waiting for the next match to begin. Four vs Dove. I gulped. Here we go.

Dove looked terrified as she stepped up opposite of Four. Four wasn't the biggest guy in the room, but compared to Dove, who probably needs a step stool to reach the top shelf of a cabinet, he was daunting.

I watched for several minutes, as Dove connected some strong hits that probably would have made a smaller opponent fall or at least waver. It was clear Four was dodging her, refusing to hit her, just like I predicted. Typical Stiff. For the first time, I was thankful that he was a square.

I held my breath as she managed to get Four into a chokehold.

' _No, no, no. Don't tempt him.'_ I silently said to Dove. She should just stick to basic moves, and he'd eventually give up. This was playing with fire.

I saw the color drain from Four's face as Dove continued to squeeze around his neck, and I bit down on my tongue as he reached up and elbowed her right in the jaw. She went down like a ton of bricks, clutching onto her jaw as she writhed with pain.

I tried to manage my anger building, but all I wanted to do was rip that stupid Stiff's throat out in the middle of this pit.

"Proud of yourself?" I grumbled to Four as I passed him on my way to help Dove up.

I helped Dove to infirmary, and after getting confirmation from the doctor that she was going to be fine, I headed back to the training room. The board with the pairings for the next round of fights was already up and I couldn't keep the smile off my face.

Etched on the top of the board was _Eric vs Four._

I searched for my opponent in the crowd, and found him on a nearby bench taping his hands. I pointed to the board and raised an eyebrow.

Game on.


	4. Pride

Chapter Four: Pride

I looked out over the chasm as I played with my new lip ring with my tongue. A million thoughts danced through my head; Jeanine asking me to be her spy, Four showing me up in the fear landscape, my father's disapproval, everything came rushing at once. I hated moments of silence like this, the moments where I couldn't fight my demons away.

"Piece of cake for your thoughts?" I glanced to my right and saw Dove had come up beside me with a piece of the infamous Dauntless chocolate cake and two forks.

"Cake, yes. Thoughts, no."

"Aw, and to think I had to fight off an army of starving initiates for that cake!" She pointed her fork at me, "What a rip off."

I chuckled, and put a piece into my mouth, and continued to stare into the abyss in front of us.

"Seriously, are you okay?" She titled her head, concern etched in her face. Her beautiful, almost shockingly perfect, face. Dove reminded me of one of the porcelain dolls my mother used to collect.

"I'm fine, Dove." I said curtly. I didn't mean to be short with Dove, I didn't want to be. But I just didn't want her involved anywhere near this mess.

"Alright," She sighed, "But you know you don't have to pull the brooding tough guy act with me, right?"

"I know." I could feel my expression soften as I made eye contact with her, "I know that, Dove. I'm just stressed about initiation I guess."

"I get that." She nodded as she licked off a piece of chocolate on her fork, "But you can have some fun along the way. I mean, I got my ass handed to me by Four and I'm still having a great time."

Dove was grinning, but I couldn't even fake a smile. The fading bruises along her jawline and the way she still slightly limped after her run in with Four on the mat erased any chance I would find that subject light hearted.

"I want to kill him for that." I grinded my teeth together, feeling my hands instinctively clench when I thought of Dove falling to the ground after she made contact with Four's fist.

"Eric." She touched my shoulder gently, "He's apologized profusely. Seriously, I think the guy all but bursts into tears when he sees my face. It's part of Dauntless. It's totally fine."

"Oh god, you're part of the Four fan club too?" I said, throwing my fork over the chasm. Suddenly I had lost my appetite.

"I'll have you know I'm a proud member of the Eric fan club." She looked at me, raising an eyebrow, "But, I also know that Four isn't the villain you make him out to be. Who knows, maybe you two could even be friends?"

I scoffed. I wasn't friends with Stiffs.

"I'll take that as a maybe." Dove chuckled, "Come to the Pit tonight. Sean and I are meeting a few of the Dauntless borns."

She finished the last bite of cake, turned on her heels and walked away. She glanced back at me, winked, and threw me a small wave. That girl was going to be the death of me.

* * *

I tugged on the tight black t-shirt I had on and walked towards the pit. The pit was lively with laughter, music, and lots of yelling, and I just wanted to run away and go hide in my bunk.

We didn't have parties in Erudite and we sure as hell didn't congregate in a giant pits screaming at each other like animals.

I thought of all the more useful things I could be doing with my time. I could be in the gym, training for my fight with Four in two days, I could be gathering information for the next time Jeanine contacts me, or I could be getting some much needed sleep. I could be doing anything else, and it seemed like a better idea than this. But Dove asked me to come. So I came.

"There he is." I heard from behind me. I turned around to see Sean, my Candor transfer friend, walking towards me with open arms, "I didn't think you'd show."

"Dove invited me." I grumbled, scowling at him.

"Woah, I know." He laughed, "Relax, man. I'm happy you're here. Fuckin' thrilled, actually."

I raised an eyebrow at him, and followed along in silence as we approached a group of people in the corner of the Pit, sat in a circle. There was Dove, Leila, the other Candor transfer, Zeke, and a few other faces that I recognized as Dauntless borns. I breathed an audible sigh of relief when I didn't see the Stiff anywhere.

"Eric, you came!" Dove sprang up, wrapping her arms around my neck tightly. I didn't mind the touch, but from the stench of some sort of sweet alcohol on her breath, I began to think my presence wasn't the only source of her enthusiasm.

"Are you drunk?" I asked her quietly, close to her ear. I didn't want to embarrass her.

She shivered and looked up at me with an expression that almost looked like desire. She glanced at my lips and back up at me.

"Do you two want to get a room or should you just go at it in the middle of the pit?" Sean asked. I shoved him as Dove ducked her head and took her place back in the circle.

"To young love." Zeke yelled, handing me the bottle of alcohol they were passing around.

The Erudite in me wanted to lecture all of them about the dangers of alcohol, especially at our age, but the growing Dauntless in me made me shrug, take a swig from the bottle, and passed it over to Sean.

I ignored the burning in my throat, and turned my attention to one of the Dauntless borns who was now standing in the middle of the circle.

"Are you guys ready to play some Dauntless or Candor?"

"Shauna, you know you're going to have to explain the rules to our new guests." Zeke grinned.

"Ah, yes. How rude of me!" She giggled, and turned to us, "One person will be asked to pick Dauntless or Candor. If you pick Dauntless, you have to complete a dare of the asker's choosing. If you're a little bitch that picks Candor, you have to answer a question of the asker's choosing. Then that person asks someone and so on and so forth. It's real fun."

"Especially when this is involved." Zeke started to shake the bottle of alcohol that made its way back to him.

"Alright, me first!" Leila raised her hand and glanced at Sean, "Sean, Dauntless or Candor?"

"Hm." He pulled one of his knees up to his chest, "I'll throw it back to our roots, and say Candor. Hit me with it, Leila."

"Okay." Her eyes lit up, "What do you really think of Jack Kang?"

"Oh come on." He groaned.

Jack Kang was the leader of Candor. I could only imagine the personality traits one would have to have to become the leader of Candor.

"Jack Kang is a wonderful leader and I respe-" Sean paused and began laughing, "Okay, he's a total dick. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. No truth serum in all of Candor could make me say nice things about that man."

Leila began belly laughing and grabbed Sean's hand in a moment of slightly drunken, friendly bliss that only two people that walked the same path could understand.

"Thank you for your candor, Sean." She smiled, mimicking the Candor saying.

"Alright, now it's my turn." Sean rubbed his hands together menacingly, and made eye contact with Zeke, "Zeke, you're up. Dauntless or Candor?"

"Dauntless." He replied, not missing a beat.

"I would love for you to take a lap around the pit here. " He said, stopping to take a sip from the bottle, "Naked, of course."

"Excuse me, transfer?"

"You heard me. Naked. Lap. Now."

"Dude, I can't run around nake-"

As Sean began to make chicken noises and flap his arms like wings, Zeke sighed and began to strip down.

"Sleep with one eye open, Sean."

"If you want to cuddle with me, Zeke, you only have to ask."

We all couldn't hold in our loud laughter as Zeke ran at lightning speed around the pit butt naked, receiving whistles and hollers from the other initiates and Dauntless members, and glares from Amar and the Dauntless leaders.

When Zeke returned back to the group, he quickly got dressed and plopped down.

"Well, I think Amar wants to kill me."

"Eh, join the club." I shrugged.

"Okay, Eric. How about you?" He turned to me, "Dauntless or Candor?"

I almost said Candor, but stopped. This was my moment to show my peers what I'm made of.

"Dauntless."

"Brave man. I dig that." He grinned, "I dare you to let us give you a Dauntless makeover."

"A _what_?"

"A Dauntless makeover. A haircut, some cool tattoos, make you look like one of us. Less Erudite librarian, and more Dauntless ready."

"Fine." I sighed, not like I had much of a choice anyway.

We made our way over to the tattoo parlor, and I sat for what felt like a century as Tori pierced giant holes in my ears and put black earrings through them, tattooed thick black patterns up and down my neck, and pierced my eyebrow.

When Zeke came at me with a razor, I had enough.

"Woah, what are you doing?"

"Haircut was part of the deal, bud. Stay still." He laughed, as I prayed to any God I could think of as I saw the amount of hair falling to the ground and heard the menacing buzzing sound coming from the razor in his hand.

After the "makeover" was complete, I got up and looked in the mirror. From the piercings, to the tattoos, to the Mohawk that sat at the top of my head, I didn't even recognize the person looking back at me. Gone was the Erudite, clean cut, well-polished Eric, and he was replaced with someone who looked like they jumped out of moving trains for fun.

"I think there's hope for him yet!" Zeke came up behind me, and placed his hands on my shoulders, "Seriously impressive, man. I guess you really are one of us."

"You look rad, Eric." Shauna threw me a thumbs up.

I turned around and glanced at Dove. She smiled softly and walked towards me.

"Well, what do you think?"

"I love it." She reached behind me and scratched the now shaven parts of my head, "You look like a total badass."

I grinned, and felt my cheeks blush as we followed the group that was now exiting the tattoo shop and heading back to the pit. Maybe I was in the right place after all.

* * *

I caught a glimpse of the familiar navy blue in the corner of my eye as I turned down the hallway to my bunk. Of course Jeanine was here. I had to be brought back down to reality after my fun night out.

Her eyes widened as she took me in. That's when I remembered my new Dauntless makeover and couldn't help but chuckle at her horrified expression.

"I can't…I'm not….We can't even talk about _this_ right now." She held out her hand and made an up and down motion over me when she said 'this'.

"Then why are you here, Jeanine?"

"Come with me." She began to walk quickly down the hallway, as I didn't move.

"Do you not speak English anymore either?" She turned around, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You can't just expect me to follow you. You need to tell me what's going on and where we are going."

She sighed, and held out her arm to usher me over to her.

"We're going to my car. It's parked in the back, where no one can see. You have someone here that wants to talk to you, as do I."

"Fine." I grumbled. Not because I wanted to follow her, but because if there was one thing I've learned in the years I've known Jeanine, is that resistance is futile.

We walked in step down the hallway in silence, until she turned to me.

"Any updates on the _situation_?"

I explained to her about the fear landscape, and how Four had only four fears and how rare that was. I also told her about Amar's particular interest in my enemy.

"Huh." She touched her chin, "Divergents would have a distinct advantage in that type of forum."

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"Well, because Divergents are immune to serums, they could manipulate the landscape. They wouldn't have to face their fears or calm themselves like you did, because they could just manipulate the landscape to help them. It would be pretty quick work, I'd imagine."

"You don't think?" I couldn't even find that sentence. Tobias Eaton? The Stiff? _He_ was a Divergent?

"I'm not sure. Probably not. Either way, it's something to work with. Nice work, Eric." She nodded, as she held open the door for me at the end of the hallway.

We stepped outside and I saw the familiar black, unmarked town car parked in an isolated place in the parking lot. Those were the cars Erudite used for their most important members, like Jeanine Matthews for example.

As we approached the car and the window rolled down, I felt the air in my lungs disappear. I had to hold on to the door to keep myself standing.

"Hello Eric." The man sitting in the car smiled at me. It was my father.

A/N: Okay, so what did you guys think? Please let me know! I wanted to make a little more light hearted chapter…I'll add the Four/Eric fight next chapter if you guys think I should continue. Thank you for reading, it means so much to me xxx


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